Ladbrokes Bid to Buy Sportingbet Fails

British betting company Ladbrokes is still looking to purchase an online gambling company, even after talks to buy Sportingbet fell this week because of regulatory concerns over the latter's Turkish online gambling operations.

Takeover Talks Terminated

Ladbrokes Chief Executive Richard Glynn said Monday that discussions that would see the company purchase Sportingbet were terminated because of concerns about liabilities from Sportingbet's Turkish operations. Sportingbet operates a Turkish-language online betting site that authorities in Ankara say is illegal.

Announcing the end of the four-month long takeover discussions, Glynn said the two sides could not find a structure that would give Ladbrokes' shareholders "an acceptable level of look-back and look-forward regulatory risk in respect to Turkey."

Still Searching for Acquisition

Glynn said the following day that there were still online gambling companies Ladbrokes would purchase in the right circumstances, but he added that the company would place its short-term focus on expanding what it has.

The failed Ladbrokes-Sportingbet bid was the second purchase to be aborted this year, after Ladbrokes called off merger talks earlier in the year with online gaming group 888 Holdings in April. At the time Glynn said the deal was not in the interests of shareholders.